Table of Contents

Forward to the Third Edition
Forward to the Second Edition
Forward to the First Edition
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Website for Professional Development Facilitators and Course Instructors
How to Use the Inquiry Books
About the Authors
1. Teacher Inquiry Defined
What is Teacher Inquiry?
What is the Relationship Between Teacher Inquiry and Teacher Professional Growth
What Evidence Exists that Teacher Inquiry is Worth Doing?
What is the Relationship Between Teacher Inquiry and Differentiated Instruction?
What is the Relationship Between Teacher Inquiry, Data-Driven Decision Making, and Progreess Monitoring?
What Is the Relationship Between Teacher Inquiry and Response to Intervention? (RTI)
What Is the Relationship Between Teacher Inquiry and Lesson Study?
What Is the Relationship Between Teacher Inquiry and Teacher Evaluation?
What Is the Relationship Between Teacher Inquiry and the Common Core State Standards?
How Is Teacher Inquiry Different From What I Already Do as a Reflective Teacher?
What Are Some Contexts That Are Ripe for Teacher Inquiry?
How Does My Engaging in Teacher Inquiry Help Shape the Profession of Teaching?
2. The Start of Your Journey: Finding a Wondering
Where Do I Begin?
What Happens If I Still Cannot Locate My Wondering?
3. To Collaborate or Not to Collaborate: That Is the Question!
Why Is Collaboration So Important?
What Are the Possibilities for How I Might Collaborate?
4. Developing a Research Plan: Making Inquiry a Part of Your Teaching Practice
What Do Data Look Like, How Do I Collect Them, and How Do They Fit Into My Work as a Teacher?
When Do I Collect Data and How Much Do I Collect?
5. Considering the Ethical Dimensions of Your Work as an Inquirer
What Are Some Things to Consider When Thinking About Ethics in Relationship to Practitioner Research?
What is the Role of School District Research Policies in Relationship to the Inquiry process?
What is the Role of University Institutional Review Boards in Relationship to the Inquiry Process?
6. Finding Your Findings: Data Analysis
What Is Formative Data Analysis?
What Might Formative Data Analysis Look Like?
What Is Summative Data Analysis and How Do I Get Started?
What Might Summative Data Analysis Look Like?
7. Extending Your Learning: The Inquiry Write-Up
Why Should I Write?
What Might My Writing Look Like?
8. Becoming the Best Teacher and Researcher You Can Be: Assessing the Quality of Your Own and Others’ Inquiry
Why Is It Important to Assess the Quality of My Work?
What Is the Difference Between Generalizability and Transferability?
How Do I Go About Assessing Teacher-Research Quality and Why Is It So Difficult to Do?
What Are Some Quality Indicators for Teacher Research?
What Are Some Ways to Enhance Inquiry Quality?
9. The Start at the End of Your Journey: Making Your Inquiry Public
Why Is It Important to Share My Work with Others?
What Are Some Ways I Might Share My Work?
References
Index

About the Author

Nancy Fichtman Dana is currently professor of education in the School of Teaching and Learning at the University of Florida, Gainesville. She began her career in education as an elementary school teacher in Hannibal Central Schools, New York. Since earning her PhD from Florida State University in 1991, she has been a passionate advocate for teacher inquiry and has worked extensively in supporting schools, districts and universities in implementing powerful programs of job-embedded professional development through inquiry across the United States and in several countries, including China, South Korea, Belgium, Portugal, The Netherlands, Slovenia, and Estonia. She has published ten books and over 100 articles in professional journals and edited books focused on her research exploring teacher and principal professional development and practitioner inquiry. Dana has received many honors, including the Association of Teacher Educator’s Distinguished Research in Teacher Education Award and the National Staff Development Council (now Learning Forward) Book of the Year Award, both honoring Dana and Yendol-Hoppey’s work related to practitioner inquiry.


Diane Yendol-Hoppey is a professor of education and dean in the College of Education and Human Services at the University of North Florida. Prior to her appointment at the University of North Florida, she served as the associate dean of educator preparation and partnerships at the University of South Florida, director of the Benedum Collaborative at West Virginia University and taught for many years at the University of Florida where she was the evaluator of numerous district, state, and national professional development efforts. Before beginning her work in higher education, Diane spent 13 years as an elementary school teacher in Pennsylvania and Maryland. She holds a PhD in curriculum and instruction from The Pennsylvania State University. Diane’s current work explores national and international research focusing on teacher education clinical practice, job-embedded professional learning, and teacher leadership. Diane received the AERA Division K Early Career Research Award for her ongoing commitment to researching innovative approaches to professional development. She has published six books and over 60 articles in professional journals.

Reviews

"The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Classroom Research is the best step-by-step (but non-prescriptive) action research guide I have come across.  This book guides teachers to ask important questions about their own teaching while empowering them to affect change through teacher inquiry.  The authors engage the reader in thought-provoking exercises through which an action research project is designed – a great guide through a truly transformative process."
*Emily Bonner, Assistant Professor, Curriculum and Instruction*

"This book is a practical step-by-step guide to get you started on a journey of investigating your own practice. The exercises and examples will carry you through the process of inquiry and support and guide you along the way to a successful ending."
*Rita Hagevik, Graduate Director of Science Education*

"This text provides teachers with easy to follow steps to conducting their own teacher inquiry.  The authors provide examples throughout the chapters that illustrate the steps and their explanations.  Teacher inquiry has the potential to be a powerful change agent in education.  This text empowers teachers to become classroom researchers."
*Virginia Harder, Professor*